S-Class Dungeon's Mistress

Chapter 82

Gasp. Gasp.

Hot breath warmed her throat.

Adelaide’s throat hurt as she continued to breathe heavily. Her limbs were trembling.

This was caused by the magic that flowed beyond the inner portal.

Although she was already quite far away, the energy was so strong that her head felt dizzy. Her vision continued to blur even more but Adelaide tried to endure it. It was because she was very familiar with the scent.

‘Caladi…!’

Since it was very similar to the energy that Adelaide enjoyed absorbing, it was clearly Caladium’s energy.

Contrary to the usual, wherein he seemed to moderately restrain it, the concentration was strong enough to be poisonous because of the continuous overflow.

But at the very least, she was certain. This was proof that Caladium was still safe. So even though her body was trembling, her mind was at ease.

However, she couldn’t be relieved just from this. The fact that Caladium emitted this level of never-before-seen magic meant that the Legend he was dealing with was just as strong.

Not only that, but it also meant that the fight was still ongoing. So Adelaide did not stop and continued her steps.

‘Just a little bit, just a little bit more!’

Adelaide pulled out the dungeon pad with her other hand that was not holding Bell and checked the screen.

[Install a short-distance portal to Esperanza at the end of the dungeon.]

As soon as Adelaide rode the inner portal, she prepared the dungeon pad. She was trying to create a portal to escape.

It was fortunate that one of the Skeletons brought the dungeon pad. Another was even running around carrying the B-Class magic trash can. They judged the situation much more calmly than the dungeon owner, Adelaide, and packed the important things even in the midst of an urgent situation.

As soon as Adelaide was handed the dungeon pad, she quickly bought a short-range portal installation magic stone and used it immediately. Normally, she would hear a machine sound asking her to specify the installation location.

However, when the Legend broke into the dungeon, she did not hear any warning sounds as if there was something wrong with the dungeon. When she felt a severe vibration, it seemed that the malfunction erupted during the battle between the Legend and Caladium.

If she could, she would have opened a portal to Belial and gotten help from the Demon King’s castle, but that was out of the question. Long-distance portals took several days to install.

Moreover, because she destroyed the portal they installed in Mediar recently, it was not possible to purchase long-range magic stones now. The Demon King had restricted repurchase to prevent frequent installation and closure.

Esperanza was the only place they could go to and get help from other demons because a portal going there could be installed now, and it wouldn’t take as long. Fortunately, there were a lot of high-level demons there, so she was sure they could be of help somehow.

‘I have to help Caladi somehow…!’

First of all, she planned to evacuate her demons and ask for help even if she had to spend all the money she had. She didn’t know if Lisianthus would arrive in time.

‘I should have taken good care of you.’

Adelaide glanced back at him with eyes full of regret. Her desperate eyes turned towards the living room. It was the place where Caladium was, and the place where the artifact had been left behind.

The moment the adventurer broke in, due to a huge impact, the artifact she had kept in her pocket fell and rolled to the floor. She only realized it after Caladium had already created a barrier of flames. It was impossible to pick it back up.

She kept it close to her until right before the adventurer came in, but after that, there was no way to find out if Lisianthus had received a signal. This made her heart even more impatient.

If Lisianthus couldn’t come, Caladium would be in real danger.

Adelaide ran non-stop. Since the dungeon rose to D-Class and the number of rooms increased a lot, the end of the dungeon was still far. It wasn’t too hard thanks to her improved physical strength, but the problem was that her limbs constantly shook.

“Whimper… Woof!“

Bell, who was in Adelaide’s arms, barked abruptly. She gasped and looked down at Bell.

“Why, huh, what’s wrong?”

“Woof!“

Bell jumped out of Adelaide’s arms.

The moment she tried to catch him, dark energy condensed, then Bell’s body grew bigger. He was now in his gigantic Cerberus form.

“Woof!“

“Ahh!”

Bell, who barked loudly, bit Adelaide lightly and lifted her into the air. She floated helplessly and soon fell onto his fluffy fur. Bell was now carrying her.

“Ack!”

“I-I am fine…!”

Bell also threw a few Skeletons and the Durahans over his body, and ran away without even checking to make sure everyone was seated safely.

“Aack!” They all screamed and held onto the black fur to keep themselves from falling.

The large beast swiftly crossed the dungeon. His running speed was embarrassingly quick compared to Adelaide. Adelaide lifted her head and looked at Bell’s condition. She was worried because she remembered that he had absorbed Lisianthus’ energy before and he became sick. But as she climbed on top of him, all she could see was six cute ears on the three heads flapping with every step Bell took.

They finally reached the end of the dungeon.

Adelaide jumped off of Bell immediately. Bell turned into his smaller figure again as soon as she got off. It seemed that it was not easy to maintain his gigantic form due to the raging energy around them.

“Oh, no…!”

Adelaide groaned. The portal shining in blue light had not been completed yet. When she lifted the dungeon pad and lowered the screen, there was a notification that she had not seen before.

[Portal is being installed. It takes ‘10 minutes’ to complete.]

[Remaining time: 8 minutes 20 seconds]

8 minutes. It wasn’t a very long time, but it felt too long now that each minute, no, each second was urgent.

‘Maybe a few people can go through like last time!’

As Adelaide recalled her experience when she went out alone looking for energy, she quickly stepped into the portal. But it showed no signs of activating.

A Skeleton who watched her actions carefully advised her.

“It is impossible to move a small number of people in short-distance portals until the installation is complete. Unlike long-distance portals, the portal itself is small… Why not pay more and get a quick install? I think that would be more efficient.”

“Oh right, there’s that!”

The information that Lisianthus had told her before came to mind at just the right time. Paying an extra Alma would quickly install it. Adelaide hurriedly flipped the screen to find the “Quick Install” button. She pressed the button without hesitation.

1 Alma was precious and expensive, but it had no value compared to the lives of her and her demons.

Then the numbers on the screen started going up and down from 1 to 10. Adelaide squeezed the dungeon pad even harder, letting out a sigh of annoyance at the needlessly time-consuming display.

A few seconds later, the number was confirmed.

[The portal is being installed. It takes ‘5 minutes’ to complete.]

[Remaining time: 3 minutes 15 seconds]

“What?!”

“This is crazy!” Adelaide cried out in an angry voice.

She had paid a whopping 1 Alma, but the reduced time was only 5 minutes. No matter how much the Demon King was said to be a scammer, wasn’t this a bit harsh?

She sighed and flipped the screen again. She didn’t have time to be angry now. She would’ve given any amount if that could shorten the time further.

Unfortunately, the quick install button was no longer visible. Only one quick installation was possible per installation, and the explanation that the time was reduced according to the ratio was written in very small print.

Adelaide gritted her teeth. Three minutes wasn’t a long time, but it wasn’t a short time either. She couldn’t just keep waiting like this. She happened to have the power to create portals. Although it was still a problem that she couldn’t use it at will, even if the odds were low, she should give it a try.

She closed her eyes tightly.

‘Focus my mind and gather my energy…’

Adelaide recalled Caladium’s serious voice. The energy, which had been moving around inside her body, started to move according to her intentions. It was quite difficult to gather energy because she was already full. It was not easy to gather energy if there wasn’t enough space.

‘The location where the portal will be created.’

Adelaide, who barely managed to gather energy, slowly opened her eyes and stared at the wall of the dungeon. At the same time, she released her energy at once.

‘Create a portal to Belial!’

Caladium said that the most important thing when using her power was her will. She didn’t know exactly how to express her will, but Adelaide followed his advice and consciously strengthened her resolve.

Several colors formed together without losing their individual color. Energy, like sparkling grains of sand swirled in the air, then soon lost their strength and scattered all over the place. If her power had succeeded, there was no way that her magic would have scattered. When she checked the surroundings, not even a mouse hole was created, let alone a portal. Just like always, this time was also a failure.

She bit her molars tightly and turned her gaze away. She then exclaimed in her mind as she gazed at the portal that was currency being installed.

‘The portal in front of me will be installed sooner than the remaining time…!’

Since the name of the power is Portal Interference, this should also be possible. If, as Lisianthus said, it was really her power.

However, yet again, there was no change. The feeling of shame only grew stronger.

‘I guess this wasn’t my power either.’

Her mind sank at the melancholic thought.

“It will be fine. 3 minutes go by quickly…”

The Durahan, Christopher, patted Adelaide on the shoulder and comforted her. The moment his large hand touched her soft shoulder, she raised her head in a flash.

Christopher stepped back, startled, wondering if he had been too intimate.

“Why…”

Naturally, that wasn’t the reason Adelaide raised her head. It was a much more serious reason than that. Her voice sank lower than ever.

“Why did the vibration stop?”

The dungeon, which had been vibrating due to the battle between Caladium and the Legend a while ago, had become quiet now. There was no sound of an explosion, even a small one.

Adelaide focused her mind, and examined the energy around her. Suddenly, her face, as well as her demons’, turned pale.

Caladium’s energy could no longer be felt. It was impossible for such a great energy to disappear at once without a trace.

There were only two reasons why his energy would have suddenly disappeared.

Caladium’s defeat.

Or death.